Leave a Comment

01.24.12

Cars as avatars: New speed sensor adds identity to speeders.

I’ve always been fascinated by the use of “I” when we talk about our driving habits. “I hit that tree.” “I made a right turn.” “I was speeding.” That conflation of identity and machine is one of the rare instances that an object becomes us. (Playing games, of course, is the other exception.)

A new technology designed to capture speeders takes that identity a bit further.

Developed by Simicon, this new speed sensor promises to take highway surveillance to new heights of precision. Unlike most photo radar systems, which track only one violator at a time, Simicon’s device can simultaneously identify and follow up to 32 vehicles across four lanes. Whenever a car enters its range, the Cordon will automatically generate two images: one from wide-angle view and one closeup shot of the vehicle’s license plate.